Missile upstages Seoul's new leader

North Korea has provocatively test fired a missile into the Sea of Japan, in an apparent attempt to upstage the inauguration of Roh Moo-hyun as South Korean President.

Pyongyang fired a short-range, ground-to-ship missile from its coast, travelling east about 90 kilometres towards Japan before falling harmlessly into the sea.

The missile was fired on Monday, the eve of the inauguration. News of the action broke only hours before the new South Korean President took his oath of office before 45,000 people on the steps of the National Assembly.

North Korea justified the test on the basis of "security", but the firing of the Styx missile was seen as another attempt to increase tension in the crisis over North Korea's nuclear arms program.

The inauguration was attended by international dignitaries, including US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, China's Vice-Premier Qian Qichen and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.");document.write("

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Speaking after meeting Mr Powell, Mr Downer said North Korea's actions were "characteristically provocative and entirely unnecessary". He said the missile test was an "exercise in drawing attention to themselves and trying to create a sense of crisis when none is necessary".

Japan reacted cautiously, noting that the short-range nature of the missile did not violate North Korea's freeze on missile tests.

The presidency of Mr Roh - South Korea's 16th presidency - was born into crisis yesterday. Despite provocation from the North, he vowed to resolve the nuclear crisis through dialogue.

He pledged to build his five-year term on the theme of "peace and prosperity".

The 90-minute inauguration included traditional Korean dance and song, opera and a 21-gun salute. But the sense of celebration was muted by last week's Daegu subway fire tragedy and the North Korean crisis.

Mr Roh said the suspicion that North Korea was developing nuclear weapons was a "grave threat" to world peace, particularly the Korean Peninsula and north-east Asia.

"North Korea's nuclear development can never be condoned," he said. "Pyongyang must abandon nuclear development. If it renounces its nuclear development program, the international community will offer many things that it wants."

But Mr Roh stressed the crisis must be "resolved peacefully through dialogue".

"Military tension in any form should not be heightened," he said.

Mr Roh, elected in a fever of anti-US sentiment last December, said South Koreans were deeply grateful for the alliance with the US.

"We will foster and develop this cherished alliance," he said with Mr Powell watching.

After the inauguration, Mr Downer and Mr Powell discussed the North Korean crisis, with any differences between Canberra and Washington apparently evaporating.

Mr Downer had called for direct bilateral talks between the US and North Korea. The US has been pushing for a multilateral approach.

Mr Downer said the positions of Australia and the US were "pretty similar".

He said Australia had supported a multilateral approach, and believed there was a point where the US needed to talk directly with the North Koreans.